


Make the Most of It

by rfh7wr2fe8



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Lyrium Withdrawal, Post Asunder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 09:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9601301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rfh7wr2fe8/pseuds/rfh7wr2fe8
Summary: Set a couple weeks after the vote to dissolve the Circles, Rhys and Evangeline say, "Deuces," and set out to find a less exciting life for themselves.Rhys is mad at himself and beats himself up over dragging Evangeline through everything meanwhile she's fighting lyrium addiction.Honestly just an excuse to have them snuggle. Unbeta'd.





	

It had only been about two weeks but being on the run made it feel like months. Trudging through wilderness, only briefly stopping in towns, sleeping in primitive camps like criminals...

Of course, Rhys supposed, he and Evangeline were criminals of sorts now. An apostate and a traitor. She claimed to have no regrets, but that was prior to departing Andoral's Reach, when there were still fortress walls around them. Before the mage rebellion took a turn they could not follow. Before her life with him consisted of dodging highways and camping out in the snow. Neither Evangeline's face nor demeanor ever gave way if she struggled with her decision, but Rhys wasn't so sure. He certainly wouldn't have followed himself to the middle of nowhere. Truly, they didn't even have a destination. _Away_ . That was they only goal. _Away._

\--

Evidence of civilization began to pepper into view on their route. It was getting dark and wandering around a stranger's hold at night was dangerous enough, however, as Rhys and Evangeline walked toward the village, it became clear that something was amiss. The entire town looked as if it had been razed. The fires were long dead, but the charred husks of buildings remained. What could have caused this Rhys couldn't begin to guess. Fears that whatever danger could still be lurking nearby won out over curiosity and they continued to skirt along the edge of the village.

Even the roads were undisturbed. Any evidence of carriage wheels, foot soldiers, or the panicked evacuation of the townsfolk had been blown over in the snow. It was hard to imagine the civil war stretched this far north. Perhaps this had nothing to do with the war. Serault was not far from here and they were peculiar folk indeed; cultists excommunicated by the Chantry centuries ago.

"This is unsettling," Evangeline all but whispered to Rhys. He nodded in agreement.

"This could have happened longer ago than we suspect," he offered. He was trying to convince himself more than her.

"Still, we shouldn't stop. It may be safer up ahead."

They continued the trek for another hour or so when they came upon a small collection of farmhouses. Curiously these were untouched, unlike the rest of the town back east, but appeared to have been abandoned all the same. There were no livestock in the pens, no lights in the windows, and no smoke coming from the chimneys.

"You may have been right. It's possible this was all cleared out some time ago." Evangeline surveyed the landscape. "Do you want to see if we could make use of one?"

The possibility of sleeping in a real bed perhaps clouded his  better judgment, but Rhys eagerly agreed to investigate their find. The door had been left conveniently unlocked, yet as they entered it became apparent that not latching the door had been more deliberate than an oversight.  The farmhouse had been torn apart. A rush for the previous owners to gather what they could before they fled, leaving behind things they could not carry.

Rhys reached out. "I don't sense any spirits. We might just be fortunate indeed." Rhys gave her a smile. The relief that washed over her was visible, and Evangeline smiled back.

"Let's make good use of it then."

Rhys went outside to set wards around the farmhouse to discourage any visitors. The wards had worked so far in their journey; they hadn't been stumbled upon yet. He made his way back in and cast a barrier around the small bedroom. Evangeline already crawled into the bed, her discarded armor in a neat pile. She seemed so much smaller without her armor, but by no means more delicate; the uniform was only an extension of her power. She was imposing no matter her state of dress. Her hair was removed from its bun into a simple braid. Rhys would love for her to leave it down. He'd love to be able to run his fingers through it, to watch it frame her face and shoulders like a lion's mane...

He must have been staring, as Evangeline was looking at back at him expectantly, one eyebrow arched.

Rhys cleared his throat, shaking himself back to reality and removed his cloak and robes. He crawled in bed beside her and felt the warm prickle of the magic he'd cast on his skin. Evangeline turned inward to face him and he pulled her in closer. She settled in, her head on his chest, free arm wrapped around his waist. He absently drifted his fingers up and down her arm. He felt her take in a deep breath and let out a contented sigh. As he closed his eyes, a small smile came to his lips. They were both utterly exhausted. He had set protections around the farmhouse, they hadn't seen another soul in days, and were finally in a proper bed. Rhys hoped that here Evangeline might finally rest easy. She deserved it.

\--

Rhys woke before her from a blessedly dreamless sleep. Surprising, given that the Veil  somehow managed to be threadbare across the entirety of Orlais lately. That was the last thing the world needed - demons pouring out to feed on all the unrest. He pushed those thoughts aside. They had no place here. Not this morning. Not in their small sanctuary. Even if all of Orlais fell, here they would have each other.

He closed his eyes, ready to settle down for a few minutes longer when he felt Evangeline suddenly jerk beside him. She took in a sharp inhale and began to lightly sob. She buried her face further into him, her hand previously resting on his waist formed into a fistful of his shirt. Rhys rubbed her back as he buried his face in her hair.

The nightmares were coming more frequently now. He wished he could do anything to make them stop, but the lyrium withdrawal would have to run its course. Evangeline handled herself so well he wondered if she was suffering at all. Of course, she was a proud woman and wouldn't tell him even if she was suffering. He felt the urge to protect her as much as she protected him. Unfortunately, fighting the addiction of a mind-altering substance is a little beyond the powers of healing magic. No matter how well she was handling the lyrium withdrawal, they still needed to find her a dealer and quickly. If only to have some on hand for an emergency. Truthfully, he didn't know where to begin looking for someone with ties to the Carta. That's something they'd need to go back into the larger cities for and that was a risk they couldn't take.

There was also the matter of the Spirit of Faith living inside Evangeline. Rhys couldn't tell if it was hurting or helping or just along for the ride. He couldn't sense it at all. He wouldn't even know it was there if he hadn't seen it for himself. How would the spirit react to lyrium?

These questions were for another time. Right now it was all about Evangeline: the Templar who went above and beyond her duty. Who held the promise and the ideals of the Order and stood up for what was right when no one else would. So much so, she had laid down her life for him.

Rhys held her a little more tightly as she cried more openly. It made Evangeline embarrassed to feel so venerable. It often trapped her in a loop of crying because she felt she was weak for crying. But Rhys wouldn't judge her, not once. He would never think of her as anything less than what she was.

Rhys kissed the top of her head as he felt tears of his own roll down his cheek. Maker, she deserved so much better than the life she had been given.There would never be a better soul all across Thedas. Evangeline didn't deserve this life on the run, fighting addiction, on the side of a rebellion that had no hope of winning, in love with a man who could most generously described as an apostate and probable murderer. One who's dealing with a demon caused all this.

It felt like the rain cloud in his mind he'd kept at bay rolled in to wash away his hope. Oh, Maker, this was all his fault. He didn't deserve Evangeline's love or the happiness she brought him; he had no right to it. He would never be able to do enough to repay for all she had done for him. He would never be able to measure up to her.

He was brought back out of his thought by Evangeline fingering the patch of hair through the opening of his shirt. Their roles reversed as she soothed him now that her own tears dried. She craned her head to place soft kisses on his neck as she continued rubbing her hand across his chest and shoulder. She was too beautiful, too perfect. He hoped he could ever be as selfless as she.

 _"Then quit crying about not being the man she needs and be. that. man."_ He knew wallowing in his self pity wouldn't fix anything. Why indulge in it?

Rhys let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to make you start worrying about me now."

"You worry about me."

He smiled down at her, drinking in her pretty eyes. "Always so sweet."

They kissed. A small kiss of affection that grew hungrier. One of reassurances and affirmations. A vow to be each other's protector, to face down whatever life threw at them together. That their love had taken them this far and would see them all the way through.

"I love you," she breathed. Lazily capturing each other's swollen lips just one more time several times.

"I love you." Rhys hugged her tighter and pressed a kiss into her forehead. These were difficult times, but they would pass. She deserved a comfortable place to retire. A place where she could finally put down her sword and leave the soldier life behind.

He could buy her land? A rather ambitious venture for a mage to be sure, but Rhys didn't plan on advertising that fact to everyone they met. He could buy Evangeline a property like what her father had. What if he were able to buy _that_ back? Where he would get that sort of coin, he had no idea. The world was practically in ruin and he had no tradeskills to speak of. Of course with the Circles gone he could hire himself out as a tutor for little magelings coming into their magic at such an unfortunate time. A noble enough line of work and his own apprentices had come out no worse for wear. Evangeline's presence might even put the minds of the people at ease.

But that was a plan for another day. Right now all that mattered was keeping their heads low.

But it was a luxury to be indoors. To be warm and dry and not hounded like pheasants flushed out of the brush. To be able to hold each other like they hadn't in weeks. A small sliver of intimacy they wouldn't dare take for granted.

"I don't suppose I could talk you into letting us stay here another night?" Rhys asked though he already knew the answer. However remote this little town was, they were still within arm's reach of both the fortress the Mages had claimed and the Capital. They would need to travel further south.

Evangeline visibly toyed with the idea. It would be nice to be able to rest for once. It's not like they had a timeline or anyone waiting for their arrival. A single day wouldn't put them too far off task.

"I suppose," she conceded, pressing her forehead against his, "one more night wouldn't hurt." She gave him a light, teasing kiss. "But don't get too comfortable; we're not going to be this lucky twice."

Evangeline feigned a shocked gasp that gave way to a girlish giggle when Rhys suddenly rolled her on top of him.

"Then I say we make the most of it."

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in so many years, so I'm quite pleased with myself. Plus these two need more love. They've been through some shit.


End file.
